We got back from the DMZ feeling pretty exhausted. The DMZ was not the dismal affair I thought it would be, but I was still tuckered out. However, I quickly mustered up some energy for an abbreviated run on the treadmill in the hotel gym. I have a strange penchant for hotel gyms. In fact, I love them. I detest gyms in general but hotel gyms are different; they’re just better. I’ll leave it at that. We only had a short while to collect ourselves because one of my good chingus from back home (also teaching in Korea) was making a special trip up to Seoul to see mom during her visit. The thing you must know about Hai … is that her love of food and appetite for eating is larger-than-life. A thing that I have learnt from our relationship is that often times we (people) deprive ourselves of the things we relish. When you have a friend like Hai, the word deprivation suddenly has no meaning. I have found that indulgence (in the aftermath) is way less painful with a mate. At any rate, my inner fat person was giddy with excitement even before seeing Hai in the lobby of the hotel. Hai had picked up some warm walnut bread (little nuggets of warm dough with custard and walnuts inside) and sticky buns for Mom and Janis. If I remember correctly, the sticky buns were already half eaten and I think Hai and I managed to polish off the walnut bread.
For the sake of our travelers, we decided to take mom and Janis to a less risky dining place – Korean rice porridge. Rice porridge has been the closest thing to comfort food for me here. I’m quite fond of it. Mom and Janis had chicken sans noodle soup-ish porridge with a large ginseng root for a garnish and Hai and I shared a pumpkin porridge. It was blistering hot (shocker) but very yummy. After supper, mom and Janis decided to take the rest of the night to journal and take a rest (as Koreans would say). Hai and I wandered the underground subway and eventually made our way to the train station looking for dessert. It went something like this – 2 scoops of gelato (mediocre), McDonalds french fries (not exactly dessert but quelled our salt craving…and in Korea you can’t get salty without a little sweet), some kind of giant caramel nut pastry thingy. Yum! After eating like Lords, we managed to roll ourselves back to the hotel and called it a night.
The next day Mom and Janis packed up their stuff and had to say goodbye to queen-sized beds with actual linens and soft plush pillows and proper showers because we were going to Chungju after spending the day at the Korean Folk Village. We headed towards Seoul station, luggage and all, to jump on the Mugunghwa train to Suwon. We arrived in Suwon and left our luggage in lockers and took a taxi to the Korean Folk Village. The village is like a huge outdoor museum, reenacting Korean traditional life and culture. We had Prairie Days in 3rd grade. My entire 3rd grade class loaded onto buses and drove across the highway to a nearby field (the prairie) and the whole day was dedicated to showing us what real life on the prairie was like (including beef jerky and Indians and teepees, for accuracy sake of course). The Korean Folk Village puts Prairie Days to shame.
The Folk Village is a neat little time machine that gives you a glimpse of traditional life in a Korean village. We spent the day meandering our way through it, viewing restored houses of commoners, farmers and noblemen and seeing various folk performances, including a tight rope walker who had to be pushing 60 if not 70, keeping his balance with a single fan in his hand. Apparently acrobatics on a tight rope dates back to the Three Kingdom Period – entertaining like court jesters .
It was a good day but all good things come to an end and we had to say farewell to Hai. Mom, Janis and I hopped on a bus to good ol’ Chung(not Cheong)ju. After a frustrating bus ride home (I mistakenly purchased the stop-at-every-dinky-farm-town-along-the-way bus ticket), we eventually got home. By this time I was dying of hunger. I took the ladies to Shabu Shabu. Our second meal on mats on the floor. It’s basically a sizzling pot of broth (let’s just call it beef broth). Thin slices of beef are dipped into the broth. Similar to fondue but, different.
The next day we added a member to our travel party. Moo is an excellent guide and it’s not because he can speak Korean, altho it helps. We took the KTX (super high-speed fast train) to Gyeongju. Gyeongju has been one of my favorite places in Korea. The city was the capital during the Silla Dynasty. A colossal number of historical sites and ancient relics are within the confines of this city. Gyeongju cannot be experienced all in one day. These were some of my favorite shots of the day.
Time is such a funny thing. I waited for so long for my momma to get here and then with a snap of a finger it was time to say our goodbyes. It wasn’t fair. It hadn’t been enough. The visit was marvelous and the time we had was so intensely fulfilling but I wanted more. At least our next reunion would be half the time we waited for this one. Thank you momma and Janis for the uncountable memories. It was grand.
To see the trip video go here
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